


The Doctor is Dying

by Whovian101



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 04:32:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13651503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whovian101/pseuds/Whovian101
Summary: After the year that never happened, the Doctor is left all alone and he can't handle it.





	The Doctor is Dying

The Doctor

* * *

 

The Doctor was alone. He was all alone. He’d lost everyone. Walking the lonely TARDIS corridors, he looked to his left and saw the medbay. He entered, on the table, asprin. His last companion, Martha, must have used it a month ago when she was here. He picked it up and turned the package over in his hands. Two pills would kill a Time Lord, yet humans took them to ease pain.  He found a very sharp surgeon's knife and wondered back to the console room. Everything hurt so much. He missed Martha. He missed Rose. He missed everyone. He closed his eyes and immediately knew it was a bad idea. Images of the Time War were burnt into his eyelids. Children, his children, screaming, his wife, his friends, everyone. Gone. They were all gone, and it was his fault. He clenched his fists and skimmed the knife on his wrist. The pain felt good. Deserved. He made another, parallel, deeper. Then another, deeper than the last. He cut until his whole lower arm was covered in hundreds of horizontal, parallel cuts. He finished it off with one long deep cut vertically down his arm. He looked at the blood, spilling all over the floor. He repeated this with the other arm, then his ankles. The pain felt so good. But now it was time to go. He was done. He couldn’t take the tormenting mental pain any longer. He swallowed one of the aspirin, his head was all dizzy from the bloodloss. He tried to get his hand to coordinate and pick up the other aspirin, but his vision was getting all blurry, he fell unconscious by the console, and the TARDIS began to dematerialize.

 

Captain Jack Harkness

* * *

 

Captain Jack was sitting with Ianto, when he heard the familiar whooshing of the TARDIS. Jumping up, he saw the TARDIS land in the hall. “Jack, what is this?” Ianto asked,

“An old friend of mine.” He grinned. He pulled out his old TARDIS key and pushed it in the lock. The doors swung open, “Doctor!” He called, so excited to see his friend again, but then he did see him. The Doctor was lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood, unconscious. “Owen!” He called for the medical doctor who ran in, than stumbled a little at the sight of the man. The man in front of him was skinny, very skinny, sickly skinny. His face was hollow and his skin was very pale. “Get the med center ready.” Owen nodded and ran off, Jack picked up the man. He was light. Too light. He normally had a thin frame, but this was much lighter than that, he probably weighed only four stones. Jack carried him in his arms to the med center and lay him on the table. He would have looked so peaceful, asleep there. Well, he would if he hadn’t been bleeding out both arms and legs.

“Jack.” Ianto was by Jack’s side, “Who is he?” Jack sighed,

“That’s the Doctor, an- an old friend of mine.”

“When you say friend, do you mean-” Ianto asked, but Jack said nothing.

“Jack!” Owen called from the other room. Jack and Ianto ran in,

“Yeah?”

“I put in the stitches,”

“No aspirin right?”

“I’ve removed it from the room entirely.”

“Good. I want all sharp objects out of his reach.” Jack said, Owen nodded, as he secured his arms in some metal bands. Jack looked sadly at the doctor, “Oh Doctor, I hope you can explain this.”

 

The Doctor

* * *

The Doctor came back to consciousness with an aching head. He intended to pull his arm up to clutch his head, but found his arms in a great deal of pain and restrained. He panicked, his arms were too heavy to move, but he felt his body make quick sharp movements, trying to escape his captors, someone was shouting, but the Doctor couldn’t make anything out. Everything hurt and he was so confused, he had to find the TARDIS. Suddenly, he felt a soft hand on his shoulder, he was saying something the Doctor couldn’t make out, he kept saying the same thing over and over again.

“Doctor.” The Doctor made out his name, his vision focused on the source of the voice,

“Jack.” The Doctor tried to say, but it came out more like a gag because of the piece of plastic that was shoved down his throat. But he recognised the man who had been talking. “Jack.” He tried to say again, but Jack just ran his shaking hand through the Doctor’s hair and upped the dosage of his sedative. The Doctor could feel it working, the pain eased, and the Doctor fell asleep once again.

The Doctor woke with a clearer head. He looked around. The room was empty of people, but still recognisable. He couldn’t tell where from yet, but he was on a bed that was lifted off the ground. There were monitors and IV drips all around him, but nothing sharp, not even a sharp medical tool. There were some stairs next to him that would take someone to a levitated level above him. TORCHWOOD. The name jumped into his head, at first, he panicked, TORCHWOOD wanted him dead. Then he relaxed, that was TORCHWOOD London, this was TORCHWOOD Cardiff. “Jack.” The memory of the last time he had awoken rang in his mind.

“Jack!” The man the Doctor recognised as Owen from the last time he visited called for Jack. The immortal man came sprinting in,

“What is it? Is he okay?” Jack asked, clearly in fear of what Owen would say,

“I don’t know. That’s why I need you. I have no clue what’s normal for him. Also, he’s woken up.”

“What?” in an instant, Jack was at the Doctor’s side. “Doctor.” The plastic in his throat was removed and so finally he could speak,

“Jack.” He attempted once more, this time Jack could hear him.

“Doctor!” Jack’s hand ran through the Doctor’s hair, damp with sweat from his forehead.

“Jack.” The Doctor repeated, he couldn’t feel the pain in his arms or legs, just the pain in his soul. That hurt so much more than anything physical ever could.

 

Captain Jack Harkness

* * *

Jack had never seen the Doctor like this before, he had never even seen him in visible pain, but he was breaking down now. “Doctor, what happened?” Jack’s voice was stern, but had more fear in it then he would have liked.

“I-” The Doctor began, but found himself unable to continue.

“Maybe it’s best if we don’t keep him talking.” Owen said. Jack reluctantly nodded, and began to instruct Owen on lifesigns and other information about the Doctor.

“His internal body temperature should be much lower. Approximately 15 degrees.” Owen nodded, and began rushing around. Jack returned to the Doctor’s side.

“Jack, take these off.” The Doctor ordered

“Please tell me what happened.” Jack ignored his request,

“I can’t.” The Doctor said, “I just can’t.” Jack looked at him sadly, “Unlock these Jack.” The Doctor ordered again,

“No Doctor.” Jack said, “Not until you tell me what happened.” The Doctor tried to sit up, but couldn’t, “Tell me.” Jack demanded again,

“I fell.” The Doctor said bitterly,

“And managed to cut your arms and legs in perfectly parallel lines with a large cut down the center? I don’t think so.” Jack looked into the man’s ancient eyes,

“I cut myself when falling onto four sharp grates.”

“Still not buying it.”

“I’ll show you where if you let me back on the TARDIS.” The Doctor said, clearly trying to get back onto his ship and fly away.

“I don’t think so.” Jack said, “I’m not letting you run away and hurt yourself again. I’m also calling Martha.”

“Don’t bother her.” The Doctor said, “She doesn’t want to see me.” Jack rolled his eyes,

“When are you going to get it through your thick head that people actually care about you.” Jack walked out of the room and picked up the phone.  
“Hello?” The familiar voice of Martha answered the phone,

“Martha!” Jack said, relieved she had picked up,

“Jack? What’s going on?” She clearly had picked up on his panicked voice that he was trying to keep calm,

“The Doctor.” Jack said, “The Doctor showed up, he’s hurt. It’s really bad.” He explained the natures of the wounds that he had seen,

“What happened?” She asked, obviously now mobile and on her way to her car,

“I don’t know.”

“Do you know who did this to him?” She asked, as Jack heard her car start through the phone,

“That’s just it. I think he did this.”

“Oh god.” Martha whispered, “I’m on my way. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Three hours later, Martha showed up, “Sorry it took so long, I was in London.” She said, running in,

“It’s alright, I told him you were coming.” Jack replied, Martha followed Jack to the med center, she gasped at the sight,

“Oh Doctor."

 

The Doctor

* * *

The Doctor saw Martha walking in. He closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. The last thing he wanted right now was to be blamed for what happened in the year that never did. “Doctor.” Her soft voice pierced the silence. Shocked by the kindness in her voice, his eyes opened,

“Martha?” He called quietly to her,

“I’m here.” Her soft hand was placed on his shoulder, “I’m here.”

"Why?" Was all he could manage,

"Because I care about you."

"Why?" He asked again, "That year, it was all my fault." A tear rolled down Martha's cheek,

"Is that what this is about?" She asked, the Doctor nodded slightly, "Well Doctor, there is something you need to understand." She said, "It was not your fault. You did everything you could and suffered one thousand times worse than I did. And I may have left you for my family, but we had the best of times, and I wouldn't have traded it for the world." The Doctor began to cry again. "It's alright." Martha cooed, "I'm here for you. And I'll always be here for you. Always."


End file.
